RERA woes

Only 18 states and Union territories have notified rules on Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 (RERA) and there are a number of other implementation shortfalls as well. Photo: Aniruddha Chowdhury/Mint

According to the chairman of the Maharashtra Real Estate Regulatory Authority, there is no question of extending the deadline for developers to register projects under the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016, or RERA, which falls at the end of this month. Given the current rate of registration, that means almost half the projects in the state could be left unregistered.

Maharashtra is one of the better states. Only 18 states and Union territories have notified rules and there are a number of other implementation shortfalls as well. States such as Haryana, in their draft rules, have watered down RERA’s provisions to protect consumers; only a handful of states have set up regulatory authorities; and a number of them haven’t even set up their websites.

The centre has expressed confidence that the states will get their acts together, but there are only three weeks left. With demonetisation hitting real estate hard, further disruption—which would spill over to sectors like cement, steel and the labour-intensive construction industry—is decidedly unwelcome.